John Tyler dies a rebel

156 years ago today in 1862, former President John Tyler dies a rebel on his way to take his elected seat in the Confederate House of Representatives.

Tyler was the 10th President of the United States and the 6th President from Virginia. He played a crucial part in development of the nation with allowing Texas to join the Federal union. He also set the precedent as the first Vice-President to take over after the death of a sitting President. He was a member of the Whig party and they became very unhappy with his performance as he vetoed many of their sponsored bills he did not consider constitutional.

Tyler retired from politics to become a farmer but re-entered public life at the beginning of Virginia’s second war for independence. His fellow Virginians called on the 70-year-old to head a Peace Convention in the winter of 1860-1861. This body tried to negotiate a compromise with the Republicans in the North to prevent a war. He was elected to Virginia’s Secession Convention and felt a split between the North and South was the only way to resolve the increasing political tensions. On April 4 he voted for secession when the convention rejected it. On April 17, after the attack on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops, Tyler voted with the majority for secession. He headed a committee that negotiated the terms for Virginia's entry into the Confederate States and he was elected a member of their provisional government.

Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognized in Washington D.C. because of his allegiance to the rebels. And he remains the only U.S. president ever laid to rest with another nation’s flag draped over his coffin.

[Online References]

(http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-tyler-dies )

(https://www.biography.com/people/john-tyler-9512796 )

New York Times article from 1862 on his death:

(http://www.nytimes.com/1862/01/22/news/death-of-ex-president-tyler.html?pagewanted=all )

Author R.E. Foy